OMAHA, Neb. (NCBWA) – Rice sophomore third baseman
Anthony Rendon is the recipient of the 24th annual Dick Howser
Trophy as college baseball's player of the year. The presentation
was made Friday evening in Lubbock, Texas as part of the festivities
to recognize and induct the College Baseball Hall of Fame and the
awarding of several other national honors for 2010.
Rendon
is just the second player in Conference USA history to be named
Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons. He picked up that honor
again this year while leading the Owls to the regular season league
championship and the school's 16th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance.
The two-time first team All-C-USA selection was named to the C-USA
Championship All-Tournament team and was named the Most Outstanding
Player at the NCAA Austin Regional. The Houston native was also
named the Male Athlete of the Year for all sports in Conference
USA.
He batted .402 in conference play and finished the season hitting
.394 overall. Rendon led Conference USA in home runs with 26 and
had more homers than strikeouts (22) all season long. Rendon ranks
among the nation's leaders in runs scored (83) and walks (65) while
maintaining a .530 on-base percentage. He had 12 doubles and 85
RBI, while posting an .801 slugging percentage.
Rendon has also been named the 2010 National Player of the Year
by Baseball America and the American Baseball Coaches Association.
He won the Howser Trophy over two other outstanding finalists:
Miami (Fla.) catcher Yasmani Grandal and Mississippi pitcher Drew
Pomeranz.
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Rendon |
The Dick Howser Trophy, given in memory of the former
Florida State University All-America shortstop and major league
player and manager who died of brain cancer in 1987, is regarded
by many as college baseball's most prestigious award. Criteria for
consideration for the trophy include performance on the field, leadership,
moral character and courage, qualities that were exemplified by
Dick Howser's life.
A Florida native, Howser was twice an All-America shortstop at
Florida State University (1957-58), then coached the Seminoles in
1979 after a career as a major league player and coach. After one
year in the college ranks, Howser returned to the majors to manage
the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals and won the World Series
with the Royals in 1985. The baseball stadium on the Florida State
campus is named for Howser.
NCBWA membership includes writers, broadcasters and publicists.
Designed to promote and publicize college baseball, it is the sport's
only college media-related organization, founded in 1962.
The College Baseball Foundation was established in 2004
and has inducted 57 greats into the College Baseball Hall of Fame
in Lubbock. The group promotes the highest ideals and recognition
of greatness on college baseball diamonds in the 150 years since
the first intercollegiate contest in 1859 between Amherst and Williams.
The groups also have come together in 2010 to select the Dick
Howser Trophy, Brooks Wallace Award (Division I Shortstop of the
Year), NCBWA Stopper of the Year, CBF Pitcher of the Year, John
Olerud Award (top two-way player) and NCBWA National Coach of the
Year. The Pro-Line Athletic/NCBWA All-America and Freshman All-America
teams, the NCBWA Freshman Player and Pitcher of the Year also are
being presented by these national entities.
The Howser Trophy was created in 1987, shortly after Howser's
death. Previous winners of the Howser Trophy are Mike Fiore, Miami,
1987; Robin Ventura, Oklahoma State, 1988; Scott Bryant, Texas,
1989; Alex Fernandez, Miami-Dade Community College South, 1990;
Frank Rodriguez, Howard College (Texas), 1991; Brooks Kieschnick,
Texas, 1992 and 1993; Jason Varitek, Georgia Tech, 1994; Todd Helton,
Tennessee, 1995; Kris Benson, Clemson, 1996; J. D. Drew, Florida
State, 1997; Eddy Furniss, LSU, 1998; Jason Jennings, Baylor, 1999;
Mark Teixeira, Georgia Tech, 2000; Mark Prior, P, USC, 2001, Khalil
Greene, SS, Clemson, 2002; Rickey Weeks, 2B, Southern U., 2003;
Jered Weaver, P, Long Beach State, 2004; Alex Gordon, 3B, Nebraska,
2005; Brad Lincoln, P/DH, Houston, 2006; David Price, P, Vanderbilt,
2007; Buster Posey, C, Florida State, 2008 and Stephen Strasburg,
P, San Diego State, 2009.
2010 Dick Howser Trophy:
• May 20: Dick Howser Trophy semifinalists announced
• June 8: Two Howser Trophy winners to make MLB debuts
• June 19: Dick Howser Trophy finalists announced
• June 29: Dick Howser Trophy, Easton Foundations
reach sponsorship agreement
• July 2: Dick Howser Trophy Winner announced on
the College Baseball Awards Show
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